TJNOTES

COMPARISON BETWEEN TISSUE AND MY LAST

DUCHESS
Compare the ways poets present ideas about power in ‘Tissue’ and one other poem in the
Power and Conflict anthology.

In ‘Tissue’, and ‘My Last Duchess’, Dharker and Browning present ideas about power as
controlling, but the different tones of each poem reflect the varying results of these
restraints. Dharker’s ‘Tissue’ has a gentle, free and flowing tone, contrasting with
Browning’s ‘My Last Duchess’ where there’s a sinister and bitter tone. The speaker in
‘Tissue’ is the first- and second-person narrator who uses tissue paper as a metaphor to
express their ideas about power as futile. In ‘My Last Duchess’, the speaker is the Duke, who
explores his emotions towards his late wife’s death as a dramatic monologue.

In ‘Tissue’, Dharker presents the idea that power is a result of honesty. This theme is
implemented throughout the poem in the frequent motif of light. An example of this is
‘paper that lets the light shine through’. Dharker uses this underlying metaphor to
emphasise that light is central to life, a positive and powerful force. The idea of ‘light’
creates connotations of brightness and transparency, presenting the idea that light results in
honestly ad a revelation of the truth. Consequently, Dharker uses an extended metaphor to
allude that with truthfulness (represented as ‘light’), comes power.

Conversely, Browning implies that dishonesty leads to power. This is demonstrated in his
use of the phrase ‘I gave commands; Then all smiles stopped all together’. Here, Browning
uses the euphemism of ‘smiles’ ‘stopping’ to represent how his Duchess has died. This
creates an idea of dishonesty as the reader can interpret that the Duke (inspired by the
Duke of Ferrera whose wife died under suspicious circumstances) is making an attempt to
cover up his deeds and doings and is thus being dishonest. This reflects how the Duke of
Ferrera’s wife was supposedly poisoned, and many believe that this was the Duke’s doing
yet he tried to cover it, parallel with Browning’s Duke in ‘My Last Duchess’. Therefore,
Browning presents power as descending from lies and dishonestly, contrasting with
Dharker’s suggestion that power and honesty are directly proportional, going hand-in-hand.
However, as the reader reads on, they soon learn how both the poem and the duke breaks
up as a result of dishonesty.

Both Dharker and Browning’s poems are similar in their presentations of power as
controlling others. However, the way that the poets present this idea differs. In ‘Tissue’,
Dharker uses the phrase ‘Fine slips…might fly our lives like paper kites’, as a simile to
suggest that we allow ourselves to be governed by paper- an inanimate object. Through ‘My
Last Duchess’’ form, Browning presents a human as being in a position of power. A dramatic
monologue in iambic pentameter, the Duke delivers a speech, pretending to be a
conversation; he doesn’t allow anyone else to speak, representing his control over others’
expression. Hence, both poets present power as controlling others, yet their
demonstrations of who or what is in power is contrasting.
TJNOTES

In ‘Tissue’ and ‘My Last Duchess’, the poets present the contradictory idea that power can
eventually result in freedom and liberation. Dharker illustrates this through the lack of
rhyme scheme or rhythm, which creates an effect of openness and release. This is portrayed
in ‘pages smoothed and stroked’, where it is implied that freedom in ‘Tissue’ is a positive
virtue. However, Browning presents this freedom as being chaotic and sickening. This is
reflected in the line ‘made excuse- E’en then would be some stooping’, where the poet uses
enjambment to portray rambling, as if the Duke is getting carried away with anger.
Moreover, it also suggests that the character is unstable, linking to his proclamation of ‘I
know not how’. Thus, both poets present power as providing freedom and space to ramble,
but Dharker presents this as a beneficial concept, whereas Browning presents this as
maddening.

In conclusion, both poets present power as possessive yet eventually resulting in a release in
‘Tissue’ and ‘My Last Duchess’. However, the outcomes of this power is depicted differently
in both of the poems, with the Duke going mad and ‘Tissue’- both human and paper-
creating truthfulness.